This thread is for tutorial requests for DatGen. Datgen is a very flexible and powerful modding tool, and while most people use it for its easy-to-use plugins, Datgen can do much, much more with some less-known plugins. Datgen edits nearly every file type in the game, and if something needs to be done, Datgen can probably do it.

So, if you have a specific task you would like to do, or if you would like to learn how to use a particular plugin better, just ask. We'll add it to our list based on how many people need information on that particular task.

The latest Datgen has several plugins that use DirextX 9 to display 3D previews and the like. You MUST have the April 2005 update to DX9 for these plugins to work, and to prevent strange behavior with DatGen. The April 2005 Update is not the same as DX9, or the DX9c revision. You MUST download the April 2005 update, not the DX9c update, or any update off of the Windows Update site. You can get the April 2005 DX9 Update here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...&displaylang=en

I am not sure if a tutorial would be needed but if I can have just a few explanations I would be very pleased

When I edit a texture file (of a skin or/and of an object) where can I find the name of the mesh file it is related to ? I badly need to sort out my skins downloads because they slow down my game so much. I got rid of some meshes but I for sure have texture files with no mesh now and I just don't know how to find them.

I still have to download DatGen, but I assume there is a sim browser; from there, are we able to get to all the sims data? I mean, in my version of SimPE, the sim browser allows to change the aspirations, skills and such, but when I want to modify the height of a sim (and I do that a lot), I have to search the whole sims folder one by one because the file names are just numbers... Hum, I hope I don't explain this too bad.

Hi Azureale. There is a plugin for Datgen called the SceneGraph Browser, which lets you browse the files that contain textures and meshes, and preview their content. It won't do exactly what you need it to at the moment, but I can make a small update that will let you find out which .package a file is contained in. The SceneGraph browser will let you preview the mesh fully textured, which should speed up your process.

Marvine, Datgen has a very useful plugin called CHARrED that lets you browse the sims in each neighborhood, and load one sim at a time to view and edit details. At the moment it doesn't let you edit the height, but that can quickly be added.

I've edited the main post with a link to DatGen's tutorials site. A basic introductory tutorial for CHARrED has just been added, which should get new users off the ground. More features are in development right now, and in a week or so, another version of CHARrED will be uploaded. We'll try to add height editing to it.

Azureale, it shouldn't matter where the game is installed. Sometimes, though, language causes problems with DatGen. If you run into a bug, and it has to do with loading a file, let me know what the error is, and where the file really is, vs. where Datgen thinks it is.

newto, to get Uni meshes, you'll need to buy Uni. No way around that. As for DatGen, read the tutorials first, to familiarize yourself with how it works.

Darkmatter, I'm real sorry to bother you, but I have downloaded and re-downloaded and CharRed does not show up. I would really like to use this program, but your tutorial doesn't help much when I can't even get the first step done. Any clue as to why this is happening? I do have DirectX9. Thank you.

To clarify, you don't just have to have DX9. You have to have the April 2005 UPDATE to DX9. If you don't have the update, but do have DX9, Datgen won't load all the plugins. Make sure you get the update.

To clarify, you don't just have to have DX9. You have to have the April 2005 UPDATE to DX9. If you don't have the update, but do have DX9, Datgen won't load all the plugins. Make sure you get the update.

I thought I had the update, but I guess I didn't. Everything shows up now. Thank you for your response. And thanks for your dedication and hard work.

Darkmatter, I think Datgen (last debug version downloaded today) gets confused because my game isn't called "The Sims 2" (in french it is "Les Sims 2")
If I try to lauch a plugin I get this error (and then the program gets stucked) :

Type: DirectoryNotFoundException

Message: Impossible de trouver une partie du chemin d'accès "D:\Azureale\EA Games\The Sims 2\Downloads\". which means that it is impossible to find the path.

If I change the folder name into "The Sims 2" I can run the donwload maid plugin fine (I am going to explore it right away it looks fantastic ! thank you !). But if there is a file I can edit somewhere in order to keep the french name and use Datgen together it would be much better.

Well, after further testing, it doesn't run that fine if I change "Les Sims 2" to "The Sims 2" :weep: . Here are different messages I can have when I launch a plugin :

Hi, Darkmatter
I'm running Datgen under portuguese version of TS2 and it seems to work just fine, but I need help here:
I have placed clothing files with missing meshes in a Collection in order to try to locate them easier outside the game.
I have opened the Collection with Datgen and I have all the skin files in it.
My problem is to see/get the names of the files. Can I do it with Datgen? If so where shall I look? I'm stucked here... (the only idea I have is to look in S2PCI through the file ID, but I hope there's a better way...)
Thanks

Hi Azureale. Thanks for the bug reports. I need a bit of translation, though. What does this mean:

Impossible d'acceder a un fichier ferme.

Is it saying the file doesn't exist, or that it can't be opened?

Neblina, I'm not sure what you mean by placing files in a collection. Are you referring to a file group? Anyway, with DatGen, you can open multiple .package files at once if you wish. Just open each one individually, or select them all, and drag them into the Datgen window, however you want to do it. When the files load, you will see each one listed by name in the File Browser, in the namespace area (read the introduction to Datgen tutorial to learn what the different parts of datgen's screen are...www.datgen.info/tutorials/datgen_tutorial1.aspx).

Any tutorial requests for Datgen can now be made through the web site itself. I've written a system for users to request tutorials, and they are listed at the bottom of the page. As tutorial are written, they will be removed from the requests list.

Categorizing Hairtones
Hairtones are a very popular custom content item for Sims 2, but are also one of the more unruley things to deal with. BodyShop's categorization and editing capabilities are very limited, exposing only a fraction of details about hairtones (and skins in general). One of the primary areas of frusteration with content users is the lack of proper genetic support in custom hairtones. The hairtone categorizing tool in Skin Manager aims to make it quick and easy to change what color category your hairtones appear in, as well as make it easy to properly group multiple colors of a single hair style into a family, allowing full genetic propogation of that hair style to your sims offspring. This tool, while fairly strait forward, has enough options to warrant its own tutorial as well. Keep an eye out for the full rundown on how to use the Hairtone Categorization tool soon.

I, and a few others that I know of, would really like to get ahold of the upcoming tutorial mentioned above.

hi i'm using a public computer in the hotel i'm staying in as of hurricane katrina and i can't unblock their spyware to validate the software can some one please upload the directx for me please i have my computer updated with directx9c from when i had the internet and you guys say it won't work with that one right

does this tool make the whole prosses or only till it exports the obj.file?? cause it would be veeeeeery very nice if you could manage it that i can complete make a mesh with that tool...you know what i mean?? so that i have an working mesh at the end only by using this tool..cause SimPE doesn't work for me and when i import my meshes into bodyshop they are most damaged or haven't changed...:/